Poe's Children - The New Horror

Zusatztext “Revelatory. . . . A remarkably consistent! frequently unsettling book.” — The Washington Post “Straub is uniquely qualified to hold forth on what makes a good horror story. . . . [He] collects the best scary short stories out there.” — Time Informationen zum Autor Peter Straub Klappentext A Washington Post Best Book of the Year Peter Straub-bestselling author and 8-time Bram Stoker Award winner-has gathered here 24 bone-chilling, nail-biting, frightfully imaginative stories that represent the best of contemporary horror writing. Dan Chaon "The Bees" Elizabeth Hand "Cleopatra Brimstone" Steve Rasnic Tem and Melanie Tem "The Man on the Ceiling" M. John Harrison "The Great God Plan" Ramsey Campbell "The Voice of the Beach" Brian Evenson "Body" Kelly Link "Louise's Ghost" Jonathan Carroll "The Sadness of Detail" M. Rickert "Leda" Thomas Tessier "In Praise of Folly" David J. Schow "Plot Twist" Glen Hirshberg "The Two Sams" Thomas Ligotti "Notes on the Writing of Horror: A Story" Benjamin Percy "Unearthed" Bradford Morrow "Gardener of Heart" Peter Straub "Little Red's Tango" Stephen King "The Ballad of a Flexible Bullet" Joe Hill "20th Century Ghost" Ellen Klages "The Green Glass Sea" Tia V. Travis "The Kiss" Graham Joyce "Black Dust" Neil Gaiman "October in the Chair" John Crowley "Missolonghi 1824" Rosalind Palermo Stevenson "Insect Dreams" Leseprobe The Bees   Dan Chaon   Gene's son Frankie wakes up screaming. It has become frequent, two or three times a week, at random times: midnight--   3 a.m.--five in the morning. Here is a high, empty wail that severs Gene from his unconsciousness like sharp teeth. It is the worst sound that Gene can imagine, the sound of a young child dying violently--falling from a building, or caught in some machinery that is tearing an arm off, or being mauled by a predatory animal. No matter how many times he hears it he jolts up with such images playing in his mind, and he always runs, thumping into the child's bedroom to find Frankie sitting up in bed, his eyes closed, his mouth open in an oval like a Christmas caroler. Frankie appears to be in a kind of peaceful trance, and if someone took a picture of him he would look like he was waiting to receive a spoonful of ice cream, rather than emitting that horrific sound.   "Frankie!" Gene will shout, and claps his hands hard in the child's face. The clapping works well. At this, the scream always stops abruptly, and Frankie opens his eyes, blinking at Gene with vague awareness before settling back down into his pillow, nuzzling a little before growing still. He is sound asleep, he is always sound asleep, though even after months Gene can't help leaning down and pressing his ear to the child's chest, to make sure he's still breathing, his heart is still going. It always is.   There is no explanation that they can find. In the morning, the child doesn't remember anything, and on the few occasions that they have managed to wake him in the midst of one of his screaming attacks, he is merely sleepy and irritable. Once, Gene's wife, Karen, shook him and shook him, until finally he opened his eyes, groggily. "Honey?" she said. "Honey? Did you have a bad dream?" But Frankie only moaned a little. "No," he said, puzzled and unhappy at being awakened, but nothing more.   They can find no pattern to it. It can happen any day of the week, any time of the night. It doesn't seem to be associated with diet, or with his activities during the day, and it doesn't stem, as far as they can tell, from any sort of psychological unease. During the day, he seems perfectly normal and happy.   They have taken him several times to the pediatrician, but the doctor seems to have little of use ...

Product details

• Authors: Peter Straub, Peter (EDT) Straub
• Publisher: Anchor Books USA
• Languages: English
• Product format: Paperback / Softback
• Released: 06.10.2009
• EAN: 9780307386403
• ISBN: 978-0-307-38640-3
• No. of pages: 608
• Dimensions: 133 mm x 202 mm x 27 mm
• Subject: Fiction > Narrative literature